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TailGreater: Keeping Austin weird with the Longhorns
Fans in Austin have their choice of what to burn this weekend; barbecue, tacos or Charlie Strong. Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

TailGreater: Keeping Austin weird with the Longhorns

Well, it's finally happened. It's the season of scarves, sweaters, and stouts. This is peak tailgating season – when it's warm enough to wear your favorite jersey without a jacket, but cool enough to feel the comforting, warming effect of a perfect chili. This butter zone between too-hot and too-cold won't last long, so if you haven't made it to the lot yet, now is the time. Whether it's a preseason NBA or NHL game or a college football game, we'll give you all the tools you need to either host your own tailgate or be the hero of someone else's.

Playlist of the Week: Sweater Weather

 

The fact that Bon Iver just dropped a new album is as good a sign as any that fall is in full swing, so in that spirit, this week's Yardbarker tailgate playlist features indie-pop and indie dance hits from the past few years so you can truly get into the sweater weather mood. The tracks range from newer hits like M83's Go! and The 1975's The Sound to songs by pioneers of the genre like Phoenix and Foster The People. To complete the effect, make sure to go to Hair Cuttery and get yourself an undercut before the tailgate. Wear your favorite scarf, and bring a 6-pack of your favorite double IPA or lambic sour beer and tell everyone at the tailgate you knew all these songs before they got super popular.

Recipe of the Week: Ramen Fried Chicken

 

Yes, the recipe sounds like something a college student scribbled in a notebook at 4 AM after having one too many of his roommate's "special" brownies, but don't let the name fool you. This recipe, courtesy of Lucky Peach's David Chang is the real deal, and it's pretty darn easy to make. It eschews the traditional fried chicken coating of flour for ground-up instant ramen noodles. The addition of the flavoring packets to the ramen flour gives the chicken an undercurrent of umami that is unlike, really, any other fried chicken I have ever had. The full recipe can be found here. If you're planning on making this for a tailgate, if at all possible, try to fry them at the tailgate itself. The chicken does taste just fine reheated, but the chicken is at its best fresh from the pot of oil. Just sprinkle some more seasoning on top after they're done and enjoy!

Invention of the Week: Cuisinart Petit Gourmet Portable Gas Grill

Image via Amazon

When Cuisinart says that this grill is portable, they mean it.

It's only 17 pounds, somehow. (Image via Amazon)If you prefer cooking with gas over charcoal and are in the market for a new grill to use exclusively for tailgating, you could do a whole lot worse than Cuisinart's super-convenient petit grill. Depending on whether you want the tabletop version or the version that includes a telescoping stand, this'll only set you back about 120 dollars, and despite its size, the actual grilling surface is big enough to cook 6 decent-sized burgers at once (8 if you squeeze them in). Plus, think about all of the other uses for a product like this! It's small enough to fit in your car, so the next time you're at a friend's dinner party and you hate their food, you can just break out your emergency grill and just fix yourself a steak. The grill is available on Amazon – it's $121 for the version with the stand and $98 for the tabletop version.

Tailgate of the Week: #20 Oklahoma @ Texas

Not only is this game huge in terms of the ongoing Sooner-Longhorn rivalry, but if Charlie Strong can't secure a win in the Red River Rivalry game at home, the conventional wisdom is that he's out at Texas. Given this game's importance not just for Texas's season, bur for their future, emotions will be running high. This always makes for great tailgating.

In the case of the University of Texas, pregame tailgates happen all over the Austin city center, meaning that Longhorn fans traveling in from out of town can both tailgate and experience the craziness of the city. You could presumably hop from bar to bar along Congress Avenue, making your way north to the UT-Austin stadium, or you could join one of the many established tailgates closer to the stadium (a handy list can be found here) and mooch delicious barbecue off of locals for a few hours. You are truly the master of your own destiny when it comes to tailgating a Longhorns game, which is more than I can say for the Longhorns in terms of their chances in the Big 12.

Can you name every Texas Longhorns player to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft?
SCORE:
0/41
TIME:
8:00
1942 - 6 TB - WAS
Spec Sanders
1948 - 3 QB - CHI
Bobby Layne
1948 - 10 DE - CHI
Max Bumgardner
1951 - 11 DT - RAM
Bud McFadin
1953 - 10 LB - SFO
Tom Stolhandske
1953 - 13 G - DET
Harley Sewell
1964 - 4 DT - DAL
Scott Appleton
1966 - 1 LB - ATL
Tommy Nobis
1970 - 21 T - CLE
Bob McKay
1973 - 3 T - PHI
Jerry Sisemore
1977 - 16 DB - NWE
Raymond Clayborn
1978 - 1 RB - HOU
Earl Campbell
1979 - 11 P - NOR
Russell Erxleben
1980 - 2 WR - NYJ
Lam Jones
1980 - 17 DB - RAM
Johnnie Johnson
1980 - 24 DB - BAL
Derrick Hatchett
1982 - 1 DE - NWE
Kenneth Sims
1984 - 6 DB - SDG
Mossy Cade
1985 - 21 DB - RAM
Jerry Gray
1989 - 13 RB - CLE
Eric Metcalf
1991 - 9 DB - SDG
Stanley Richard
1991 - 22 T - CHI
Stan Thomas
1995 - 29 T - CAR
Blake Brockermeyer
1997 - 5 DB - DET
Bryant Westbrook
1999 - 5 RB - NOR
Ricky Williams
2001 - 2 T - ARI
Leonard Davis
2001 - 19 NT - PIT
Casey Hampton
2002 - 4 T - BUF
Mike Williams
2002 - 5 DB - SDG
Quentin Jammer
2004 - 7 WR - DET
Roy Williams
2004 - 23 DT - SEA
Marcus Tubbs
2005 - 4 RB - CHI
Cedric Benson
2005 - 15 LB - KAN
Derrick Johnson
2006 - 3 QB - TEN
Vince Young
2006 - 7 DB - OAK
Michael Huff
2007 - 19 DB - TEN
Michael Griffin
2007 - 20 DB - NYG
Aaron Ross
2009 - 13 LB - WAS
Brian Orakpo
2010 - 14 DB - SEA
Earl Thomas
2013 - 15 DB - NOR
Kenny Vaccaro
2015 - 32 DT - NWE
Malcom Brown

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